Microsoft launches Office Web Apps to repel Google Apps

There was no real fanfare; Microsoft just quietly opened up consumer access to Office Web Apps. But that’s the advantage of cloud services – you don’t need to distribute hard copies, and you can continuously improve them by rolling out updates to fix bugs or add features.

That’s one reason the Google Apps suite has done relatively well. Determined to retain market dominance, Microsoft has launched a competing service of lightweight productivity apps for use in the Web browser.

Office Web Apps includes stripped-down versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, featuring deep integration with Microsoft’s Office 2010 desktop counterparts and document storage through Windows Live SkyDrive. Though the soft launch was Monday evening, Microsoft plans to start the fanfare June 15 as it also launches Office 2010 for consumers. (The company already released the productivity suite for enterprise customers.)

“Over the last few months, we’ve gotten incredible feedback from the hundreds of thousands of users in our Office Web Apps Technical Preview,” Jason Moore, principal lead program manager for the SkyDrive team, wrote in a blog post. “We’ve been busy incorporating much of that feedback, and today, Office Web Apps on SkyDrive are now available to everyone in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland.”

Courtesy of Microsoft

Microsoft has made number of improvements, including some cosmetic ones, to the Word Web App (pictured) since testing the Office Web Apps. Click to enlarge

To use the Office Web Apps, users must have a free Windows Live account. The browser-based applications allow people to create, edit and collaborate on Office documents. They have fewer features than their desktop counterparts, but that’s more of a feature than a shortcoming – the average user needs just basic productivity abilities.

Google knows that. As Microsoft sells Office 2010 for businesses, Google has marketed Google Apps as lightweight alternatives to the full-featured Microsoft suite. Instead of buying Office for the entire office, buy a few copies for those who need it (or don’t) and have everyone else use the simpler Google Apps, the Internet company says.

Office Web Apps and Google Apps aren’t free for businesses to use, but they are for consumers. Though Microsoft’s Business Division depends on enterprise revenue, much of its income comes from consumers. Will the availability of Office Web Apps undercut people’s likelihood to go out and purchase Office 2010?

What do you think of Office Web Apps?

And here’s a video about Office Web Apps from Microsoft’s “Office Casual”: